Media Releases

Making the mining sector more efficient and boosting the strength of railway tracks are among four new research projects in New South Wales and Queensland that the Turnbull Government today announced would be funded to kick off 2017. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the Turnbull Government’s $1.875 million commitment for three mining…

The Opposition Education spokesperson’s petty politicking and lies over the last 24 hours stand in stark contrast to the constructive comments by some of her state Labor colleagues, leading principals and experts who are constructively considering reforms, such as a Year 1 literacy and numeracy skills checks, to improve student outcomes. Tanya Plibersek has shown…

The Turnbull Government has announced an expert group of principals, teachers, speech specialists, academics and researchers will progress the staged implementation of a nation-wide phonics assessment and the development of a numeracy check. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the short assessments of year 1 students' literacy and numeracy skills are backed by…

Labour force figures released today by the ABS show that seasonally adjusted employment rose by 13,500 in December, to a record high of 11,985,900. Full-time employment rose by 9,300 in December to stand at 8,176,500. This follows strong increases in full-time employment of 85,700 in the previous two months. Part-time employment increased by 4,200, to…

The Federal Education and Training Minister has urged students to research where they choose to study if they plan to go to university, as the Turnbull Government today released new data showing university student completion rates have dipped slightly. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said he encouraged the thousands of prospective uni students…

More than 60 students from across Australia will converge on Macquarie University in Sydney today to kick off an advanced digital technology summer school backed by the Turnbull Government. Federal Member for Gilmore Ann Sudmalis representing the Education and Training Minister for the launch said the digIT summer schools would receive $1 million through the…

Tens of thousands of Australian preschoolers will try their hand at languages this year as the Turnbull Government rolls out its popular early learning languages program across the country. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said he expected more than 30,000 children would learn Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese or Spanish as…

New data released today highlights early education and care fees continued to grow in the March 2016 quarter but the Turnbull Government has prevented the fee spikes of up to 14 per cent seen under Labor. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the Turnbull Government had reduced the fee increases but that it…

After almost 18 months of uncertainty for the school community, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has now affirmed my department’s decision to revoke the approval of Malek Fahd Islamic School Limited to receive Federal Government funding. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was not satisfied that the school authority is able to satisfy the requirements of the…

The Turnbull Government’s new affordable, sustainable and student-focussed vocational education and training student loans program kicked off today – ending Labor’s failed VET FEE-HELP scheme. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the New Year marked the start of a new era for vocational education in Australia, with the VET Student Loans program…